I often take walks during my lunch hour, and I have several neighborhoods that I alternate for my walking routes.
No two days are ever the same considering changes in the weather, wildlife, bikers, cars and service men.
The other day the weather was especially agreeable, not too hot or cold, not too windy or humid. So I decided to walk a bit further than normal and explore a different neighborhood. I was impressed with the large homes with beautifully manicured lawns and sprawling shade trees. I happened to pass an especially high hedge row along the sidewalk when I could hear someone on the other side. Once I walked past the bushes, I could see that it was an HVAC repairman performing a spring maintenance service. We chatted for a few minutes, and the conversation naturally led to the service that he was performing on the homeowner’s air conditioner. He had removed the fan cage from the the exterior condenser/compressor to clean it out. I couldn’t believe how much debris he had taken out! There was even more junk lying nearby on the ground that he had cleaned off of the fins. He told me that you should never use a power washer to clean the fins, which he said can really damage them. Next he was planning on pulling out the leaves and weeds from around the outer unit. I asked him how much training was required to be an HVAC technician, and he explained that our local community college offered a five-month training course. After we exchanged our ‘Have a good day’s’ , I realized how much I had learned about the heating and cooling industry in the short time that we had visited.